Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) has proposed an integrated bauxite mining and processing project worth VND 5.2 trillion (USD 208 million) in Lam Dong province, Vietnam. Currently under appraisal by provincial authorities, it is designed to produce around 3 million tonnes of refined bauxite ore annually, reinforcing raw material requirements at the Nhan Co Aluminium Plant and the planned expansion of its alumina operations. Located in the Nhan Co Cluster, the proposal spans over 6,666 hectares. Of this, approximately 5,269 hectares are earmarked for mining and around 50 hectares for the ore processing plant. The project also includes five post-processing sludge reservoirs covering about 1,120 hectares, alongside the 318-hectare Dak Buk So 8 water reservoir. A...
Aluminium production depends on high-temperature processes where furnace efficiency, thermal management and equipment durability are essential for maintaining operational performance. However, refractory materials used in melting, holding and casting operations face continuous exposure to extreme temperatures, thermal fluctuations, chemical corrosion and mechanical wear. These conditions can lead to premature furnace-lining failure, molten-metal penetration, corundum formation and heat loss, increasing maintenance requirements and operating costs. Addressing these challenges requires materials that can withstand demanding operating conditions while keeping equipment efficient and reliable. Alkegen, a supplier of high-temperature refractory and insulation materials, serves this requirement...
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The bauxite market in the year 2018 had been found following a steady pace. There were some developments and expansions on existing mines, while some notable deals and new projects crossed the path across the world. The price in the China market also displayed steadfast growth throughout the year, with some short restraints and intermediate drops. In fact, Shanghai Metals Market had anticipated in July that bauxite would gain in the near term as more regulations on open-cut mining were put forward. Most bauxite mines in Shanxi and Henan provinces adopted opencast mining, SMM learned. Read through the article to know more about the developments and updates in the bauxite industry over the year. Bauxite price trend The bauxite price in China started at RMB 380 per tonne at the beginning of...
The US dollar index saw a weak run over the week as investors flocked to safe-haven currencies following another volatile trading session of US stocks market. LME aluminium saw a bearish week as the removal of US sanctions on Rusal created a relaxed atmosphere in the market. The week saw three trading days as the LME was closed on Tuesday for Christmas and on Wednesday for Boxing Day. LME aluminium started the week’s trading on 24th December at US$ 1898.50 per tonne, lowest in last two years. After the two holidays, it opened lower again and then extended its losses on Thursday night hovering at US$ 1898 per tonne. Finally, the aluminium contract closed the week at US$1881 per tonne. It is expected to trade at US$1,850-1,900 per tonne in the coming week. As on December 28, LME aluminium...
Aluminium Secondary Manufacturers Association (ASMA) had a meeting today, on 28 December, with Suresh Prabhu, the Minister of Commerce and Industry in wake of his media statement that the ministry is in favour of hiking import duty on aluminium. The association has submitted a petition making a case against hiking import duty on aluminium. The association said that the duties will only favour the three major primary producers in India while disregarding the interest of the entire downstream sector. They insisted there has been no surge in the import of primary aluminium and hence, increasing duty on primary metal is irrelevant. The petition says that primary aluminium sector has already been given protection of 7.5% import duty and the primary metal is sold in the domestic market at a...
Powys householders are being encouraged by the county council to recycle during the festive season. Cllr Phyl Davies, Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, said: “With so much happening at Christmas, you might be tempted to throw all of your waste in the rubbish bin but please don’t! “We want households to take a breath and consider how they can maximise their recycling efforts. You’ll be amazed at how much of your waste can be recycled – from tin foil, food, glass jars and bottles to real Christmas trees, plain Christmas cards, plain wrapping paper, batteries, plastic bottles and more. “If householders recycle everything that they can by either using their recycling boxes and food caddy or visiting their nearest household waste recycling centre, they will reduce the amount of waste...
The Windalco bauxite plant in Ewarton, St. Catherine, is reportedly witnessing a growing tension between its management and the production workers over outstanding retroactive salary payments. The workers, represented by the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), even staged a two-hour-sick-out on Thursday morning, December 27. At the protest meeting, Garth Cheese, UCASE Chief Union delegate at the Ewarton refinery, reminded all about the payment rule which was introduced by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT). The rule was employees should get payments in line with production targets. He also reminded that after the introduction of this rule the company had informed its staffs that it would give out US$ 18,000 of lump sum payment. However, the workers...
In the U.S. recycling used to be extremely profitable business while aiding while doing its part to the environment. However, local recyclers are facing a number of challenges while recycling holiday packaging materials. Local recyclers are struggling to cope with increasing financial pressures involving plunging prices for scraps, higher trucking costs, increasing difficulties with consumers sorting trash, and concerns about President Donald Trump’s trade wars. “The value of (recyclable materials) has dropped sharply over the past few months,” said Frank Chimera, senior manager of Republic Services, which services Chester County. He sees an increase of 20 per cent in recycling demand over the holidays but sees that exporting scraps have become difficult. “China, who was the world’s...
According to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey, domestic primary aluminium production in October 2018 was 84,000 tonnes. The average daily production in October was 2,710 tonnes, 6% more than that in September 2018, 34% more than that in October 2017. In October, exports of aluminium semi-finished products (plates, sheets, bars, etc.) by the U.S. stood at 86,600 in October 2018, down 3.2% or 2900 tonnes from October 2017 volume of 89,500. On a month on month comparison, the volume rose 13.6% from the September export volume of 76,200 tonnes. During January-October, the U.S. exports of aluminium semi-finished products stood at 883,000 tonnes, an increase of 7000 tonnes from 876,000 tonnes during January-October 2017. The U.S. exports to Canada increased...
Turkish authorities are expecting an abolition of additional tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, imposed by the U.S. in August 2018, Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said this in a statement. Ankara, the capital of Turkey hopes for release from US sanctions against Iran for the import of Iranian oil for a period of 6 months, Bloomberg reported. “We expect an extension of Turkey’s exemption” from sanctions, Pekcan said in an interview with NTV in Ankara. On Friday, August 11, President Trump ordered doubling of U.S. tariffs on imported aluminium and steel from Turkey. The decision indicated the growing diplomatic spat with a NATO ally. The diplomatic row over the case of American pastor Andrew Brunson led to the doubling of tariffs by Trump. In his Tweet, Trump justified increasing...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, some 800,000 tonnes of alumina capacity got affected in Shanxi Huaxing, an alumina producer located in Shanxi province of China. This occurred as the company upgraded its generators to meet ultra-low emission standards from mid-December. The company told SMM that regular production would start in the middle of March. At present, the company’s operating capacity stands at 1.4 to 1.5 million tonnes. A couple of days earlier, China’s largest state aluminium producer Chinalco also put one of its roasting furnaces at the Guangxi branch into maintenance that would expectedly affect total production of alumina by 20,000 tonnes. Chinalco at its Guangxi branch has an annual alumina capacity of 2.5 million tonnes. Another alumina producer in Guanxi Tiandong...
Sanjay Mehta, President of Material Recycling. Association of India (MRAI) has opposed the proposed increase in import duty on primary aluminium and aluminium scrap from 7.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent to 10 per cent. In a letter addressed to the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu, Sanjay Mehta said, “Aluminium import is a necessity today. Certain critical auto components are manufactured through recycling of aluminium scrap which contains other required elements that come automatically with scrap. Primary aluminium cannot replace scrap in first place. Even if we try to replace scrap with primary aluminium, the cost of components will rise by upto 40 per cent which would increase overall production cost of auto sector.” Kishore Rajpurohit, Director of MRAI, believes that...
The US dollar index weakened on Thursday as investors flocked to safe-haven currencies following another volatile trading session of US stocks market. LME base metals traded mixed on Thursday after a two-day closure for the Christmas holiday, but, aluminium dropped 1.2%. SHFE base metals, except for lead, ended in the black across the board overnight and aluminium fell over 1%. LME aluminium closed yesterday’s trading on a bearish note at US$1898 per tonne, almost flat from where it stood before the holidays. The aluminium contract then extended its losses on Thursday night as the removal of US sanctions on Rusal created a relaxed atmosphere in the market. It is expected to trade at US$1,840-1,880 per tonne today. As on December 27, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1897 per...
Russian aluminium company Rusal said on Friday that Mr. Jean-Pierre Thomas, an independent non-executive director of the Company, has been appointed as the chairman of the Company with effect from 1 January 2019. The previous chairman, Matthias Warnig, resigned from his post earlier this week after six years at the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China. The US Treasury said last week it would remove sanctions against Rusal, its parent En+ and power firm EuroSibEnergo if they restructured to reduce the controlling stakes of businessman Oleg Deripaska, who is on Washington’s sanctions list. “I am confident that I can hand over to my successor a successfully developed company. My mission is completed.” “The planned removal from the sanctions list had put the company on the verge...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the A00 aluminium ingot price has extended its drop today, on December 28, to RMB 13,440 per tonne from RMB 13,540 per tonne on the previous day. Today’s price marks the lowest so far since the last two months. About a month ago on November 30, the price had reached at RMB 13,500 per tonne, but today it went below that. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,420 per tonne and RMB 13,460 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 120 per tonne to RMB 80 per tonne. The average spot discounts rose by RMB 10 per tonne today from the previous day. The decline in ingot prices today touched all the major markets in China, SMM found. In the east Wuxi and Hangzhou, the ingot prices fell RMB 55 per tonne and RMB 50 per tonne and stood at...
According to the latest report from Aluminum Association, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada (measured in shipments by domestic producers plus imports) totalled an estimated 10.7 million tonnes in the period from January to October 2018, up 3.4 per cent over the same period of 2017. Demand for semi-finished or mill products totalled 7.7 million tonnes, up 3.3 per cent. Demand for semi-finished or mill products totalled an estimated 822,363 tonnes in October, up 7.8 per cent YoY. Apparent consumption from January to October (demand minus exports) in domestic markets stood an estimated 9.4 million tonnes, up 1.8 per cent from the same period of 2017. Apparent consumption in October was up 7.3 per cent YoY to 1 million tonnes. Total aluminium exports (ingot and mill products)...
When Ford launched its all-aluminium body F-150 pickup truck in 2015 with aluminium body panels instead of steel to make it lighter with improved mileage and rust-free, it was considered as one of the biggest risks for America’s most popular truck maker. The bigger concern was the cost of repairs, particularly the cost of replacing body panels. But recent reports show that the use of aluminium has not really increased the repair costs. A report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which carefully tracks insurance pay-outs support the claim. The organization’s latest report on the F-150, from April 2017, found that the cost of body repairs, compared to the 2014 F-150, has not increased during this period. It is said that Ford offered discounted repair equipment to their...
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has signed an agreement with the Emirates Scientists Council (ESC) to make nine laboratories for scientific research purposes. The MoU is a part of the ‘Open Labs’ initiative, which was launched by UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum to provide UAE scientists with access to the most advanced laboratories. Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and ESC Chairperson, said: “The ‘Open Labs’ platform reflects our dedication to implementing the vision of our wise leadership, which seeks to establish the UAE as a leading international destination for scientists.” “Launching the Platform under the sponsorship of the Emirates Scientists Council allows researchers and scientists to gain access to...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, spot aluminium sellers in east China showed reluctance in offloading cargoes today, December 27, on the occasion of aluminium futures price drop. In this background, the SHFE January aluminium contract fell in morning trades. Spot discounts in Shanghai were heard at RMB 80 per tonne to RMB 70 per tonne against the SHFE 1901 contract compared to RMB 100 per tonne to RMB 90 per tonne in the previous day. Most spot transactions in Shanghai and Wuxi were at RMB 13,530 per tonne to RMB 13,550 per tonne while that in Hangzhou were at RMB 13,540 per tonne to RMB 13,550 per tonne. Thus, in contrast to the previous day, the prices today were down by some RMB 140 per tonne. The drops in prices found driving the purchasing interest among traders, but at the same...
Aluminium recycling is part of Europe’s wider Aluminium industry, a sector of the economy that generates almost €40 billion revenue a year and directly or indirectly employs more than one million people. Aluminium beverage cans contribute to a large extent to the overall estimated recycling result of 65% for all aluminium packaging. After Germany, Finland, Belgium, Norway, and Switzerland, Austria’s name also comes in collecting and recycling the aluminium beverage cans. The country also imports a significant amount of scrap for recycling. According to the global export-import data, Austria is estimated to import 304,512 tonnes of aluminium scrap in 2018 against the import volume of 294, 368 in 2017. This means the country this year is likely to import 3.4 per cent higher compared to the...
